


Blooming Season

by riverdaze



Series: UshiTen Week [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: ...those things are (mostly) unrelated, Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Fae Tendou, Genderfluid Sugawara Koushi, Genderfluid Tendou Satori, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mentions of changelings, Mind Manipulation, Minor Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou, Minor Oikawa Tooru/Sugawara Koushi, Multi, Nonbinary Bokuto Koutarou, Other, Prince Ushijima Wakatoshi, Shapeshifting, accidental misgendering, because fae, but not between UshiTen, lol it's already a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26132848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverdaze/pseuds/riverdaze
Summary: It is Ushijima's duty to enter a union that will bring peace to his people, and the queen is all too eager to marry him off to a fae. Over the weeklong wedding ceremony, Ushijima learns about the world of his spouse-to-be, and comes to some realizations about the way he was raised.
Relationships: Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou & Oikawa Tooru, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio & Ushijima Wakatoshi, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Series: UshiTen Week [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895962
Comments: 10
Kudos: 43
Collections: Ushiten Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> UshiTen Week Day 3: **Arranged Marriage** / Secret Talent / **Royalty AU**
> 
> Just to reiterate, Tendou is genderfluid and can essentially shapeshift. Mistakes are going to be made.

The ceremony is to start at dawn.

It is an honor to be able to partake in such a task for his people. They have been at war’s brink with the fae ever since Grandmother outlawed magic in the kingdom. This union provides the opportunity to negotiate its return and assure peace in the tense social atmosphere. The responsibility is great, and Prince Ushijima Wakatoshi takes it very seriously, as does everyone else in the court. The advisors, generals, and diplomats have all gone over the contract with magnifying glasses and intense interest, dissecting each line for trickery and loopholes. Upon finding none, they pushed it to the queen for her approval. She gave it, and now the castle waits, breath held tight.

Every human in the kingdom is on edge, as they will be until the union is assured and the consequences fully accounted for. Everyone remembers what happened last time the Ushijima royal family made a deal with the fae. It is that mistake his mother is trying to rectify now, Ushijima Wakatoshi well knows. The feelings that knowledge incites in him are… complicated.

Regardless, Ushijima takes his duties to his people seriously.

His spouse to be, it seems, takes them less so.

 _‘A flower that matches the color of my hair’_ the message had said. It was fae tradition to appoint a task to your spouse-to-be, presenting the gifts before the ceremony. The task assigned to Ushijima, though, was insulting in both its simplicity and impossibility. Picking a flower was hardly an arduous quest that could prove his viability. At the same time, there was no way to accomplish the task correctly. Ushijima had never seen his intended; no one had. Their hair color was as mysterious as the traditions of the fae themselves.

“Black,”

“Mother?”

“Black is both a rare color for a flower and a common one for the hair. A flower of that color will be the best to present to your intended. Though it is a great wonder that the fairies wish to play games after rescinding their half of the bargain,” the Queen says, looking down at Wakatoshi with accusation in her eyes.

“Understood,” he answers, straight-faced as always. To speak honestly, he would not have noticed the accusation if it hadn’t been spelled out for him more directly time and time again. It does not matter, though. Ushijima knows his duty. He began his search for a flower and convinced himself to be satisfied with the one chosen for him.

Now, though, standing at the edge of the Fae Woods surrounded by a strange mix of soldiers and nobility entitled to watch their prince’s marriage, Ushijima holds a collection of petals and is overtaken with more uncertainty than he is accustomed to feeling.

The sun blares over the horizon. The forest goes deathly quiet. A near full minute of silence passes, and the people are starting to chitter when nonexistent bells begin to chime. A sudden gust of wind carries the sound and blows back people and decorations indiscriminately. People shield their faces, ladies holding down their dresses with sharp sounds of alarm.

“Well, at least someone is making noise now. What is this, a funeral or a wed--” The voice somehow carries through the crowd as clearly as the bells before being suddenly cut off.

People--no, not people, fae--begin to emerge from the woods. They melt out of trees and sprout from the ground until their numbers match the veritable army the Ushijimas have brought in accompaniment. Ushijima cannot pin down the speaker. 

Queen Ushijima steps forward with her guards, Wakatoshi one step behind her.

“With whom amongst your people am I to conduct our contract?”

“That would be I,” the fae part for a woman with silver hair and glowing green eyes. Upon noticing she is entirely nude, covered only by her gossamer wings and the unnaturally long tresses of her matching hair, Ushijima averts his eyes as he has been taught is polite. Doing so allows him to catch the quick look of shocked distaste on his mother’s face while the crowd behind him breaks out in scandal. “I am Alisa, Monarch of the Fae people.” Her voice, Ushijima notes, is not the one that spoke up earlier. Ushijima figures Monarch Alisa would not have shown up in such a manner if she did not intend to be seen, and raises his eyes back to hers. Like everything, his mother takes these developments with calm grace.

“I see. Are you to be my son’s intended, and seal the longstanding rift between our peoples?” Ushijima is hyper-aware of the black bouquet in his grip, as far from the near-white of this woman’s hair as can be found. It is fine, then, that she answers in the negative.

“One of my children has agreed to accept your proposal,”

“My son’s proposal,”

“Of course.” Monarch Alisa says with a small smile and a shake of her head. She turns backward and reaches a hand into the woods. Another hand takes it and steps forward. This woman is taller than Monarch Alisa, perhaps as tall as Ushijima himself, and clothed in something that might approximate a bride’s garb. The clothing looks to be made of a collection of rags in various bright colors, tight around a delicate waist, and cut unevenly amongst layered skirts. Settled in the dip of her prominent collarbone is a glowing purple gem.

That dress is not much of an improvement in his mother’s eyes, but Ushijima is more focused on her hair.

It is red, a vibrant red, unlike any Ushijima has ever encountered. Her wide, too-round eyes meet his across the clearing, then dip down to the dark flowers in his arms. She smiles, but it is sharp, and Ushijima feels a pang of disappointment in himself for a job poorly done. He thinks of what he carries in the bag around his hips and wonders.

“This is Tendou, very gifted in our ways and beloved by our people,” Monarch Alisa says. She and Tendou have very similar smiles. Ushijima thinks of his people, who have long looked at him with the distrust inherited from the queen’s eyes. 

“Acceptable. Are you prepared to exchange gifts?” Queen Ushijima speaks, no indication of her feelings on her son’s new bride.

“Are you?” Tendou responds, before wincing and giving a short bow of her head to the monarch. Her voice is deeper than Ushijima expected, drier as well.

“Of course,” Monarch Alisa says quickly. “May the children exchange their tokens so we may begin the union. The festivities will take place over seven days, at the end of which we will return to this realm for the human ceremony.”

Tendou picks a bag off the floor and walks forward. Ushijima moves to meet her halfway. The grass and mushrooms in the clearing are not disturbed under the light tread of Tendou’s bare feet, and it makes Ushijima hyper-aware of the trampling stomp of his boots.

Face-to-face, Tendou is interesting. Many fae are wispy and delicate things, and Tendou seems to fit that mold. However, there is something sharp not only in her smile but also in her jaw and bones. Ushijima thinks, were he to see Tendou in a crowd, he would immediately pick her out as a fairy regardless of clothing or any absence of the butterfly wings that drag behind her.

“Well, I suppose if I’m gonna marry a human, it’s at least nice that he’s not bad to look at.” Somehow, Ushijima did not expect those to be the first words out of Tendou’s mouth. He does not know how to respond. Years of political training and strict socialization rush through him as he considers his mother’s anger were he to ruin this by being himself.

“It is my honor to be wed to such rare beauty,” he says, just as he was told. Tendou’s nose wrinkles, but then she sighs.

“What else but platitudes and dishonesty can I expect from a human? I should have known better,” she says. Then she perks up and hefts up her bag. “Oh, and greed! Can’t forget greed!” she adds. “Will this fill your endless stomachs?” she asks, prying open a sliver of the bag so Ushijima can see the uncut gold and jewels within. As the fae--Tendou--sent him on a quest for a flower, Queen Ushijima demanded that Wakatoshi ask for something of value. It was the least he could do to make up for this mess. He understands, at that moment, that the request did nothing to warm Tendou to the idea of taking his hand.

When Mother had decided on the union, she said Wakatoshi would be better off for the arrangement, as the fae value the lack of deceit that has made politics so difficult for him. The words are already out of Ushijima’s mouth before he realizes they prove her point.

“It is unlikely the money will be utilized in abating anyone’s hunger. More likely, it will be sorted into the royal coffers.”

Tendou stares.

“Disgusting,” she breaths and looks away, but she is laughing and shaking her head, and Ushijima does not understand if she is speaking of him or not. “And you?” she continues. “I see you have brought me dead things. You shouldn’t have,”

“I… My apologies,” Ushijima says. “I had hoped the flowers would be to your liking.” He thinks again of Reon’s advice and the pack at his side. His mother would disapprove, though.

Tendou passes him the gold, and he is surprised at how easily she was carrying such a weight. In exchange, she takes the bouquet, rubbing black petals between her fingers until they come away stained. In a smooth wave, her red hair turns an identical shade. She takes a strand between her fingers and crosses her eyes to examine it.

“Hmm… No, I don’t think the color suits me,” Tendou says. “What do you think?”

Again, Ushijima can do nothing but be honest.

“I have no opinion,”

“Of course not.” The red blooms back into existence. “Well? What are you waiting for? Bring your payment to your people, and then come and join me,”

“M’lady.” Ushijima dips his head in agreement. Tendou’s hand grabs his arm, stopping him from leaving.

“Oh, absolutely not. None of that at all. Look here.” Blinking, Ushijima looks to where Tendou is pointing at the purple gem at her throat. “Purple is he/him. Yellow is she/her. Green is they/them,”

“I…” To admit to not understanding something to an outsider is shameful, but Ushijima does not want to be disrespectful if this is an aspect of his spouse’s culture.

“No, this isn’t a fae thing. Honestly, humans are ridiculous. Listen, when this necklace is purple, I am a man, and you will refer to me that way. Understood? And this is not the regular, ask the other fae their pronouns,”

“Understood.” Ushijima is relieved. Even if he does not quite get it, that is a simple enough request. “My apologies for the misunderstanding,”

“...Accepted,” Tendou says after a moment. “Go on.”

Ushijima walks back to his mother, bowing as he holds out the gift. The royal guards take it from him as she steps forward.

“The word of a fairy means little to me, but let us hope returning you to them will undo the mess that started this. Do not disappoint me,” she tells Wakatoshi. 

“I will not,”

“Hmmm. Go, then. I will see you in a week, and we will say our farewells.” She turns away.

The fae have mostly melded back into the woods, leaving Tendou alone at the trees’ edge. His back is to them all, and Ushijima has his first clear view of Tendou’s red and orange wings. It takes him a moment to even place them as wings, because folded together, they drape down his back with the appearance of an oversized autumn leaf.

At the edge, Tendou offers Ushijima his arm, like Ushijima is a damsel. When he accepts it, though, Tendou startles, and Ushijima wonders if he misunderstood. Still, with no more than a considering look, Tendou leads him away from his people and into the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ushijima meets some... _friends._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UshiTen Week Day 4: Online Friends to lovers / Jacket Thief / **Any AU**
> 
> This feels a bit like cheating. 🤔 lol.
> 
> cw for invasion of personal space. Ushi is uncomfortable.

The canopy casts dark shadows over them, and the entire area is unnaturally silent. Ushijima is sure they are being watched.

“So, why’d you agree to all this, my dear husband-to-be? You really let your monarch talk you into being kidnapped by the fae? Or are you just into that?”

“This union is in the best interest of my people. That is all there is. My will does not matter,”

“Oof. I mean, that’s… admirable, I suppose.” They walk. Only Ushijima’s steps make any sound. 

“Why did you agree to be my groom?” Ushijima asks, Tendou’s words bouncing in his mind. If it was not for duty, what possible reason could Tendou have?

“I volunteered, actually. But that doesn't answer the question, huh? I suppose… Well, I don’t hate humans quite as much as many of my siblings; I’m the most well suited to picking out lies, and therefore marrying a human who may not have honorable intentions; and I am comfortable with the idea of a loveless marriage.”

None of those answers sit very well with Ushijima. He does not like what they imply about Tendou’s view of his honor, nor his expectations of the future. The words to express his feelings, though, are out of Ushijima’s reach, and the moment soon passes.

“Here we are.” Tendou gestures to a ring of mushrooms on the ground, the kind children back home are warned front and back to never step near. “Now, I would like your name, please. I won’t have you running around my home without having a guarantee of my people’s safety,” Tendou says leaning very close to Ushijima’s face, hand on his shoulder.

Another thing children have beaten into them is to never give out their full names, doubly so if you know you are speaking to a fae. It is suicide. 

It is also part of the deal Ushijima’s mother struck. His name has already been sold, so there is nothing to gain by pretending it hadn’t been. 

“Wakatoshi,” he says, and it scratches and claws out of his throat in a way that makes him hyper-aware that may be the first--and only--time he’s ever said it out loud.

Round glowing eyes are staring right into Wakatoshi’s, and he forces himself to keep still as the usual discomfort shakes through him. Tendou’s head tilts, and his hand tightens. Ushijima looks away.

“You’re telling the truth,” Tendou finally says.

“Of course. That was our deal,”

“I suppose it was… Follow me, Ushijima Wakatoshi.” Ushijima does not flinch, but it is a near thing. He does not know if it is because it’s the first time someone other than his mother and grandmother have said his name, or if it’s because when they did it, it was always followed by unpleasant things. 

The ring of mushrooms feels innocuous enough when Ushijima steps over them, and for a moment he thinks nothing has happened at all. Then he blinks, and the forest comes alive.

Fae crowd the clearing, dancing and singing, eating and drinking. The forest canopy casts not long shadows, but colorful lights that highlight the party. Small children follow even smaller animals between legs and under skirts.

Tendou steps forward.

Ushijima’s muscles lock up.

“What do you think?” Tendou asks with a wink and a twirl. His dress, it turns out, is not at all made of rags. The fabric is not fabric at all, but rather light itself. Shimmering colors made of every ribbon of a rainbow blend and mesh into the skirt like the most vibrant stained glass, consolidating into pure white light as it wraps up around his chest, and tied together at the sides with a spider’s web covered in dew. “I don’t know if it’s quite my style, but it’s traditional.” Tendou shrugs. “Maybe you’ll like it better like this, though?” He says, side-eyeing Ushijima. All at once, the skirt shortens to an indecent length. But Tendou seems comfortable in it, so Ushijima figures it’s acceptable in his culture.

“It’s nice however you wear it,” he says.

“Interesting. I was told humans are prudes,” Tendou pouts. But before Ushijima can worry about what he did wrong, Tendou tells Ushijima to follow him into the party. Fae begin to crowd Tendou almost immediately, and Tendou laughs and absorbs their attention with startling ease. Ushijima takes a step back, somewhat relieved to be given space to himself. 

That is, until long fingers walk their way up his arm.

“Look here, Tendou’s new bride is so big and strong,” a voice whispers too close to his ear. The culprit is another person Ushijima would have immediately picked out as fae, but for different reasons than Tendou. This person is androgynous and very conventionally attractive, almost too much so, and Ushijima is immediately reminded of his teachings about fae glamours.

“I am not his bride; I am to be his husband,”

“Of course, of course. Silly me. Not all of us can be as well studied in human gender as our dear Sa-- Oh, but I suppose your contract says nothing about him giving you his name, does it?” the fae tsks, wrapping their arms around Ushijiima’s bicep. “That’s hardly a marriage at all, don’t you think? It must be strange for someone so physically and socially powerful to be put in such a place of… vulnerability.” They say with a strange affection for the word. “How about this? My name is Oikawa Tooru. Consider me giving it to you as a sign of my dedication to peace between our peoples. And what is yours?”

Ushijima, with much deliberation, stays silent. Being rude to the fae is always an ill-thought idea, but he doesn’t know what qualifies as such. It would seem fair to give his name in return, but just because he was forced to give it to Tendou does not mean he owes it to every fae who asks… right?

“Oh, poor thing, so shy,” Oikawa says as the silence stretches, voice layered with honey and hunger. “Come on, I promise it’ll be more than worth it.” Oikawa rests his chin on Ushijima’s shoulder, and Ushijima forces himself to stand still and bare it. 

“Now now, Oikawa, don’t be rude.” A hand grabs Ushijima’s opposite wrist, fingers cold. “He doesn’t have to give you his name if he doesn’t want to.” This new person has wild black hair and narrowed eyes that widen guilelessly as they meet Ushijima’s. A tray appears in front of him. “I’m Kuroo. Hors d'oeuvres?” the fae asks.

In the interest of being polite, Ushijima takes one of the small crackers. Two pairs of intense eyes lock onto him, set over identical smiles. Ushijima is not hungry. His reservations prove well-founded.

“Guuuys, I thought getting him to eat the spiked food was my job,” says someone behind them.

“Bokutoooooo,” Oikawa whines, dropping where he’s practically draped over Ushijima’s back. Kuroo facepalms. Ushijima puts the food back on the tray. He wishes they would let go of him, but he is used to such wants being ignored.

“Oh, whoops. My bad.” The new person walks out from behind them, and Ushijima finds that unlike the other two, this one is nothing like he would expect from the fae. He certainly isn’t delicate, nor particularly beautiful. On second viewing, though, there is something in his face very similar to Tendou’s--big round eyes and somewhat lopsided features. Speaking of, Ushijima’s promise to Tendou sparks in his mind, and he hurries to fulfill it.

“May I know your pronouns?”

“Oh! What a cultured human,” Oikawa sings. “I’m charmed,”

“Whatever fits best in your mouth,” Bokuto answers with a shrug. Kuroo and Oikawa repeat their previous reactions.

“Please, babe, I’m begging you to stop saying it like that,” Kuroo says. “We’re he/him, by the way.” He points between himself and Oikawa.

“I’m actually she/her, at the moment,” a fourth voice says. The three people surrounding Ushijima go tense. The speaker is a fae with short silver hair and white butterfly wings splattered an alarming orange, like a venomous animal’s warning. She is holding her hands on her hips and looks very unimpressed. 

“Suga, my love--” Oikawa is the first to break out of his alarm.

“Don’t ‘my love’ me, _Tooru_.” Oikawa flinches. “I cannot believe you three attempted to steal from and drug someone at their own wedding. Have some class,”

“We were just having a little fun, Sugawara. No harm, right big guy?” Kuroo hits Ushijima on the back.

“Oh, shoo, shoo.” Sugawara waves the three of them out of Ushijima’s personal space, and his head spins with the relief of it.

“My apologies on their behalf, Prince Ushijima. I hope they haven’t ruined your estimation of us. I promise we’re actually very welcoming. They are good friends of Tendou’s, and I’m sure they did not mean to cause you any real harm.” Not knowing what to say, and having benefited from the tactic fairly recently, Ushijima does not speak. Thankfully, Sugawara does not take offense. “I suppose I wouldn’t believe me either, after that fiasco.” She taps her finger against her lips. “I know just the thing! Will you please come with me? I would like to introduce you to someone.”

Looking out over the crowd does not reveal Tendou to Ushijima, and though he does not really know Tendou at all, he craves even the possibility of familiarity.

Sugawara smiles, gentle. 

“I understand. Anyway, you probably shouldn’t make a habit of going places with strangers. I’ll accept your thanks for chasing these three off, and then I’ll go find Tendou for you, how does that sound?”

“Acceptable, thank you.” Ushijima knows what he did wrong as soon as it passes through his lips. Kuroo and Bokuto make noises of protest, and Oikawa laughs. Sugawara giggles, smile going from gentle to predatory, with a lifted lip that exposes sharp teeth Ushijima hadn’t noticed before.

“You are very welcome. I will collect on my debt someday soon.”

Any child knows better than to say thank you to a fae. The buzzing and discomfort had driven him to an unthinking razor’s edge.

“Wait, why is it okay when you do it!?” Bokuto complains.

“Because I’m not sloppy about it. My way was classy,”

“It really was,” Oikawa says, looking even hungrier than he had when he was trying to bait Ushijima.

“Alright, all of you, off you go.” Suga shoos them even further away, though she takes a moment to whisper something in Oikawa’s ear that makes him go red.

“I’ll be back,” Sugawara tells Ushijima, no hint of fangs.

Maybe Ushijima’s mother was wrong. Human trickery and mannerisms are beyond him. How could he ever hope to keep up with the fae?

By the time Tendou appears, looking weary from dancing, but smiling widely on Sugawara’s arm, Ushijima has collected himself back into something still and stoic. 

“Sugawara tells me you’ve met some of my friends?” Tendou says, disengaging from Sugawara, who waves and rejoins the party, to lean on a tree stump next to Ushijima. An amber-colored drink swirls in his glass.

“Yes,”

“And? What do you think?”

“They are very tactile. I do not appreciate it. Their attempts to fool me were disconcerting,”

“Oh, Ushi, don’t you know not liking each other's friends is a huge red flag?”

“My apologies. I mean no disrespect.”

They both watch the party for some time. Ushijima spots Monarch Alisa being led in dance by a fae with a small smile. Long black hair and dense black wings circle the contrasting silver and gossamer. A parade of children have gathered to march through the center of the party, the leader being the only one present with hair even close to Tendou’s shade. None of them have visible wings. Beneath the shadow of a large oak, two fae embrace, one with shoulder-length auburn hair dipping the other--a taller one with unusually large scales on his wings--in a kiss.

“Your friends know your full name, or Oikawa does. Is this common amongst your people?” Ushijima asks.

“Huh? Oh, hmmm. It’s not really uncommon, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s not, like, casual acquaintance stuff, but I trust them,”

“I see,”

“So, what? Your friends don’t know your name?”

“No.” Back home, only mother and grandmother know Ushijima’s full name. Not even father was allowed to hear it. It was not told to Ushijima himself until he was old enough to be trusted not to speak it at thirteen. He’d once considered telling Reon--who had shared his own--but mother forbade it on threat of disinheritance.

“Wow. Humans sure are monsters.”

Ushijima frowns, Tendou studies him.

“Oikawa told me his name,” Ushijima says. “Why?”

“Because he didn’t, not entirely. It’s his favorite trick. Humans raised Oikawa, and he carries one of their family names. So long as he doesn’t tell you all three, you have no power over him. Did you give him your name in exchange?”

“No,”

“Why not?”

“I have never given it to anyone but you,”

“Wait, what, really?”

“Yes,”

“Wow. Does it bother you? That my friends know my name when you don’t?”

It is a fair question, one that Ushijima is still working through himself. Oikawa’s words did bother him to some extent but fell flat in others. Feeling vulnerable was not new to Ushijima, and giving Tendou his name did not make him feel that way. That said, he recognized that Tendou now had a very real power over him that put the two of them at incorrigible odds.

“I regret that our relationship is founded on unequal grounds, but I recognize and accept why it must be so,” Ushijima decides on. 

The teeth that Tendou uses to chew on his own lip are not sharp, and Ushijima wonders if that was a feature particular to Sugawara, or if they only appear that way on request.

“... You really entered this union without any say in the negotiation of the contract at all?” Tendou asks after a long while.

“Yes,”

“That's… Well, it certainly makes me feel kinda slimy, I’ll tell you that. Hmmm… I got it!” Tendou slams his drink onto the tree stump. “May I have your permission to share your name with Monarch Alisa?”

“For what purpose?” In truth, Ushijima had assumed Tendou would do so regardless of his permissions. 

“Our peace is all wonky, so we can’t have you running around without any limits, so someone has to know your name, but if I give it to her, then I can give you mine, and we’ll be on even ground.” Tendou smiles, proud and strong.

“You are under no obligation to do so,” Ushijima finds himself replying. There is an inherent assessment in the way Tendou searches his face.

“No… but I want to. I do not want to be caught in an unequal marriage either. If this arrangement can make you more comfortable, then that’s what I want to do,”

“That is acceptable.”

Tendou nods. His smile is still sharp, but now Ushijima notices how wide it is, how it takes up so much of his face and squints his eyes. 

The hours pass by. Tendou flits in and out of the crowd. The sun is disappearing below the horizon when Tendou appears to show Ushijima where they will be sleeping. Their papery doors are situated next door to each other. 

“Satori,” Tendou says, standing in Ushijima’s doorway. “My name is Tendou Satori. Goodnight, Ushijima Wakatoshi.”

“Goodnight… Tendou Satori.” The name feels pleasant on Ushijima’s tongue. It is a level of trust he doesn’t quite know how to respond to. He doesn’t know his own mother’s name, but now… now he knows Satori’s.

Despite the trials of the day, sleep comes without exessive trouble in this strange new world.

**Author's Note:**

> ... I am so bad at limiting myself.


End file.
